Electroless plating of metals onto other metals is relatively well known. A variety of metals have been successfully plated using these conventional techniques for electroless plating.
In conventional electroless plating an object to be plated is immersed into a bath, plating being conducted from the bath. Such a bath generally includes ions of the metal to be plated upon the object and a reducing agent. One drawback to such electroless plating systems is an occasional sudden precipitation of the metal ion values from the bath. Termed a bath crash, this precipitation is generally triggered by a chemical imbalance in the bath, but nonetheless can cause severe upsets in processes utilizing electroless plating.
Conventional electroless plating baths generally utilize relatively elevated concentrations of metal ions to effect a speedy and effective electroless plate. These elevated concentrations can result in significant losses of metal ions from the bath through drag out, bath carried from the plating process upon finished pieces, and the like.
Maintenance of the level of reducing chemicals or agents in these baths requires careful attention if crashes are to be forestalled. Many typical reducing chemicals utilized in electroless plating baths such as formaldehyde, can pose hazards in the workplace. Processes eliminating reducing agents from the electroless plating baths therefore offer substantial utility.